Gilbertson+v.+McAlister

Mary Gilbertson v. Scott McAlister et al. United States District Court, D. Connecticut November 4, 1975 Background Mary Gilbertson, a former tenured English teacher at Weaver High School in Harford, seeks injunctive relief, reinstatement, back pay and damages against the offenders who include most of the elected members of the Harford Board of Education. Of two counts of her complain, first, Ms. Gilbertson contends that the defendants unlawfully dismissed her as a teacher in violation of her rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. On her second count, she charges that the individual defendants acted unkindly and with thoughtful intent to deprive the plaintiff on her constitutional rights to freedom of speech, due process of law, and equal protection of laws. The court denied her motion for partial summary judgment on October 17, 1974. Soon after a court trial was held that had 19 witnesses testify. Decision On count one of her complaint, she argues that “misconduct” as a ground for the dismissal of a tenured teacher’s employment, is unconstitutionally unclear and overbroad. She also says the term in the context of the ordinance lacks an explanation or set of applicable strands, and thus it subjects a teacher to biased and unpredictable exercises of authority by the Board of Education. The court disagreed. The court says, “The plaintiff was discharged for a willful violation of disregard of standards of behavior which the Board had every right to expect of its teachers. Without a doubt, Ms. Gilbertson’s improper actions as a teacher constituted ‘misconduct’.” On count two of the complaint, the final issue is raised on whether the majority of members of the Board, acting individually, were impermissibly prejudiced against the plaintiff. “The court finds that the proof in this case does not support a contention that the Board had prejudged the plaintiff’s case; rather, the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that the Board acted in good faith and without malice.” Impact on Education After looking at this court case, the impact on education or educators can be very different. This is a type of court case that allows everyone to think about their own misconduct and who is was either handled or overlooked. I think, depending on what school district or system a teacher is in, depends on how their actions are treated. Some actions by teachers that are not serious or little are handled right away in some districts and consequences are given. In other school districts, they are simply overlooked because there are more important situations to handle that needs more attention. In our opinion, every form of misconduct should be handled to some extent. Nothing should be overlooked and pushed to the side because it’s not important as others. This is why some of the teacher’s misconduct in the future is too much to handle. If it was taken care of the first time and handled properly, maybe it wouldn’t have led to anymore misconduct. As a teacher, he/she has to know what the right thing to do is. Question Why did the court not agree with Ms. Gilbertson’s complaints?

By: Jenna Bass, Megan Good & Chelsea Moody